The room seemed to have been visited by a blizzard of blue. The tables were decorated with elaborate dishes of sweets from macaroons to vanilla cake and the bar contained foreign wines a handful of guests couldn’t pronounce, often leading to roars of laughter due to the failure of their tongues that couldn’t wrap themselves around French terms. The lights were dimed to a soft, brown hue; the only source of brightness was the chandelier hanging from the high ceilings covered in majestic artwork of the heavens. And yet the white tablecloth seems to glow in the darkness. Where the Kims found this house was still a mystery, even the new generation of the family doesn’t have a clue.

                Sunggyu suppressed himself from sighing as he greeted the guests one by one. This was the one thing he hated to do as the president of the company. He despised having a duty of looking like a perfect and responsible gentleman when in fact he just wanted to fling his lady to his bedroom and devour her right then and there. He hated having duty so much that he hated the word duty. One time, his co-worker (when he was working as a mere cubicle-guy #5 at the company) used the term ‘off to duty, sir!’ and it made his blood boil! He resisted the urge to flip the table, mainly because he didn’t want to pay for new computer to be installed in his cube for the third time of that month. Instead, he proceeded to borrow Sungjong’s teddy bear to beat it until all the polyester hair came off.

“Dear, you’re looking awfully weary. Cheer up a bit, you’re halfway down the list,” Jae whispered between guests that strolled by in their mask in one hand and their partner in the other. Many ladies came in adorning gorgeous jewelry with cream-colored gowns, some having pretty lace patterns on there while others liked the simple and plain. Details aside, everyone seemed to have stepped off a shoot from Vanity Fair or W Korea or whatever magazine there is-Sunggyu doesn’t remember because there are way too many for his male brain. Just staring at one for hours makes him insane, think how he feels when he has to look at three at the same time.

                “I’m just frustrated, that’s all,” Sunggyu gripped the guest’s hand tightly as he exhaled, earning a yelp. He gave her an apologetic smile, causing her to break into one.

                “Try to keep it in-we have guests.”

                “You know how I get when your hair is like that.”

                “Like what?”

                “All messy, yet beautiful.”

                “Are you calling me a mess?”

                “You’re a perfect mess,” Sunggyu winked to her, glancing at her blushing before looking straight at who he was about to greet.

                “Sunggyu, if you keep that up all night you’re going to make noona and us suffer.”

                “There is no way for you to speak to me like that, Daeryong!” Sunggyu hissed, shooing him to the side, “I thought you weren’t going to make it! After all, you were bickering about not having a date.”

                “I took your advice. Missing the opportunity to talk to the two of them face to face wasn’t a great idea, especially because you wanted me to be there, but I think it’s time for me to move on.”

                “There are plenty of fish in the sea; hey I just spotted myself a cutie with a mermaid dress. I gotta get myself out there, see you guys!” Soryong patted the shoulders of his fellow colleagues before gliding to the pretty girl who was already batting her eyelashes at him.

                “Well he got himself a bite already. I can see Soryong hasn’t changed when it comes to taking my advice.”

                “Hey, I’m sure that I can get myself one too. It just takes time.”

                “The party is on until midnight. If you can’t get one by four hours, I’ll help you out. Now get out there, I have to see if my little princess is ready to make her entrance.”

                “Little princess?” Daeryong cocked an eyebrow as he stared at the door on the far side of the room. There were stairs on the left and right which cascaded towards the balcony with vines intertwined between rails.

                “You’ll see. Just wait and see.”

--

                “I know I’ve been training myself since I was a little girl to make this small debut as a young lady to an elite society, but I never knew that I’d have to do it now,” Hyemi sighed, pacing back and forth in the hallway, “I mean really-did you have to do it tonight of all nights?”

                “It’s not my choice to choose. You know that dad likes to have it on a night when the moon and stars are out, it’s not too cold, and it has to be when it’s almost December, but it’s not December,” Sunggyu replied, rolling his eyes over how idiotic his sister looked like. If she would just stop plucking the pearls off her headdress and left her tiara and gown at peace everything would be fine.

                “I can’t believe that I didn’t even see the invitation in the mail. Wait, don’t tell me-,”

                “Dad didn’t want you/me to have it,” the siblings said in unison. Hyemi’s fingers pressed the bridge of her nose wile Sunggyu crossed his arms, sitting on the small bench that pressed against one of the cream-colored walls. Her shoes clicked and clacked against the marble flooring, echoing throughout the hallway. If Hyemi didn’t looked utterly confused, she’d be the perfect model for the next Vera Wang Wedding Collection, but who is Sunggyu to decide on who should model for pictorials when he doesn’t even supervise them much.

                Hyemi flipped her dark locks to the side of her neck, letting it fall over the neckline of her dress. The dress wasn’t anything fancy; a high-neck line embroidered with small Swarovski stones to make a necklace pattern, the neckline was sheer, but it wasn’t all transparent. The sheer fabric created a v-neck shape and it was no longer there once it reached above her s. The rest of the dress was beautifully designed. It flattered Hyemi very well. If it wasn’t for Jae, Sunggyu may have chosen a very pink dress that would not do any justice to his sister’s curves.

                “Hyemi, it’s almost time- are you ready?” Hyemi turned around, not recognizing the owner’s voice, but soon smiled after setting her eyes on him.

                “I’m always ready, dad.”

--

                “Throughout my whole life I have never met anyone who works as hard as this young lady. Tonight is her night and surely she has done so much to earn it. Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you Miss Kim Hyemi-the finest and newest debutante of all Korea,” Sunggyu stepped to the side, reaching one arm out to welcome his sister and her . The crowd cheered, holding up their champagne glass high in the air as a sign of congratulating the young woman. Soon enough, after her thank you speech, she went back inside the hallway, away from the balcony, and made her way down to the first floor.

                All the people in the room congratulated her once more and didn’t forget to shower her with compliments, yet Hyemi didn’t feel at home. Coming from a pretty wealthy family, this is where Hyemi is supposed to stand. Hyemi is used to being put on the spot and shown around as if she were a prized possession, but she was so tired of this bland life. She hated how she didn’t know about this masquerade, she hated how Woohyun, Daeryong, and she are still a mess, she just hated how miserable she was right now. Of course, she can’t show it with all of these people present in front of her so she decided to step outside from this chaos and let herself relax. It wasn’t long before someone arrived, though she knew it was bound to happen.

                “Hyemi, I hate to say this to you now, especially since you probably don’t care much about me anymore, but I want to apologize to you for acting the way I have been the past few days.”

                Hyemi doesn’t even have to turn around to confirm who was talking. She remembers the warmth that radiates from his body. She recognizes the scent which lingers on his clothes from morning until night. She recognizes the voice because it always plays in her head like a broken record. Hyemi doesn’t recognize, she knows who it is.

Maybe this is what they mean when they talk about love.

A/N: I don’t even know if there’s such a thing as a debutante ball in Korea (I don’t think there is), but I thought it’d be cool if I added it in there to emphasize about Hyemi’s family and whatnot :x

So her dad’s making a cameo…don’t worry, I’ll make sure to put him in the next chapter:) Speaking of the next chapter, who exactly is the guy who came to Hyemi? Leave your opinion in the comment section below! PLEASEE LEAVE COMMENTS, YEAH? Seriously guys, I even said to leave some comments (if you’d like to) because I love to hear what people have to say, but no one didn’t leave muchT^T I love to hear what you have to say and, like most authors, I don’t appreciate silent readers :x so if you have the time, please leave some feedback<3

I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors!

See you in the next chapter:)